Remarkable period photographs by F. W. Glasier capture the colorful world of the Big Top in early twentieth-century America, portraying an array of parades, tent raisings, circus spectaculars, and the everyday lives of the performers. A form of entertainment that claims to be the greatest show on earth had better deliver. That the circus does is confirmed by the photos F. W. Glasier made during the traveling spectacle's heyday--even more unequivocally than Edward J. Kelty's group portraits of circus personnel (see Miles Barth and others' Step Right This Way [BKL N 15 02]). For while Glasier also made portraits, he liked to get relatively candid shots, which the cumbersomeness of Kelty's huge "banquet" camera didn't allow. So here in this 10-by-11-inch album, we see people milling before the sideshow tent, already marveling at one of the "freaks" playing a violin; elephants lining up after unloading from the circus train; roustabouts driving tent stakes; and an eight-horse team pulling an ornately carved wagon in a small-town parade. Most astonishing is an image worthy of modern sports photography: Alexander Patty of the Ringling Brothers Circus caught between stairs as he does his stuff--hopping downstairs on his head! Hur-ry, hur-ry, and don't be ashamed to gawk. Ray Olson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Mark Sloan is the Director of the Halsey Gallery at the College of Charleston and the author of Hoaxes, Humbugs, and Spectacles, Dear Mr. Ripley , and Self-Made Worlds . Used Book in Good Condition